Biped rest for firearms.



J. S. BUTLER. 'BIPED REST FOR FIHEARMS.v APPLICATION FILED '1 /m16. i91911,295,688; .Patented Feb.25,1919.

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i J BUTLER, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

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,'ispecication of Letters Patent. Fb, 25, 1919,

.application inea January 1s, 1919. serial Nofanssi.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT 0F MARGH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States,captain in the Ordnance Department, stationed at Washington, D. C., haveinvented an Improvement in Biped Rests for Firearms, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any ofits oficers or' employees in prosecution of w'ork for the Government, orby any other pern son in the United States, without payment of anyroyalty thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in supports for iire arms andrefers more particularly to biped rests for machine rifles.

It will be understood that supporting rests for the forward end ofmachine riies are desirable for use when the operator of the gun isfiring from a prone position, the 'rear of the gun being supported onthe shoulder of the gunner in the usual manner.

The principal lobject of the invention is tov provide a simple andinexpensive device of the foregoing character, which may be detachablyfixed to the barrel of a machine rie, or similar fire arm, and which maybe readily and compactly folded against the gun when not in use orspeedily unfolded for use when desired, the device being constructed sothat the additional weight thereof will not add materially to the weightof the n.

Wgitlh the foregoing and other important objects in View, my inventioncomprises the new and useful details of construction and arrangementwhich will be fully described herein, illustrated in the annexeddrawings, and pointed out more specifically in the appended claims.

In 4the --accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of theinvention is shown, like reference characters refer to like orcorresponding parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a machinerifle with my biped rest ath tached thereto in its folded position.

' Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my biped in its unfolded or operatingposition.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my invention, also shown in the 'unfoldedposition.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the folded device detached from the gunbarrel.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that I have provided mydevice with a clamping head 5 adapted to rece-ive the barrel of themachine rifle A, a co-acting clamp plate 6 being hinged to the head at 7to secure the barrel in place. Plate 6 is provided with a pivoted bolt 8adapted to enter between bifurcations 9 carried on lip 10 of the headand a wing nut l1 is provided on bolt 8 to ldraw the plate 6 firmlyagainst the gun barrel in an obvious manner.

Clamping head 5 is centrally and vertically pivoted by means of a pin 12to an inverted U-shaped traverse bracket 18, which in turn istransversely pivoted by pin 14 between a pair of 11p-standing ears l5provided on central bracket 16. A coil spring 17 is mounted about pin14, one end thereof seating against the rear edge of the bracket 16 andthe other end seating against the rear edge of the traverse bracket 13in position to normally force the central bracket into the unfoldedposition shown in The ears of the traverse bracket are provided withstops 18 formed integral therewith in position to engage the upper faceof the central bracket when the central bracket has Vbeen swung byspring 17 to the vertical or unfolded position shown in dotted lines inFig. l and in full lines in Fig. 8.

Central bracket 16 is provided with spaced apart transverse iianges 20between which are pivoted at 22 a pair of normally diverging supportinglegs 21. Legs 2l. are preferably formed of channel material with theanges directed inwardly, and are adapted in their open position to beswung out ward at the bottom to support the gun laterally. Stop bridges23 are formed on the.

flanges 20 to engage the legs to limit the spread thereof. Alongitudinally extending pin 24 is provided between flanges 20 aboutwhich a coil spring 25 is carried, the ends thereof being positioned tonormally actuate the legs to the spread position.

Feet are provided on legs 21 by turning outwardly the elements of thechannel to form substanially T-shaped rests 26 in posi tion to preventthe device from settling into soft ground and a pointed metal center 27is riveted in each of the channels to prevent slipping.

In order to bring my device into the folded position shown in Figs. 1and 4, the legs 21 and central bracket 16 are folded rearwardly abouthinge pin 14 against the actuation of spring 17. The legs are likewisedrawn together about pivoting pins 22, against the normal spreadingaction of spring 25. As a means for engaging the legs in the compressedposition and at the same time to hold the folded legs and centralbracket in the desired position adjacent to,

and parallel with, the gun barrel, I provide a rearward extension 29 onthe base of head 5 having a pair of spaced-apart downwardly extendingkeepers thereon in position to receive the folded and compressed legswhen inserted therebetween by the operator. Inturned flanges 3.1 on thekeepers prevent the legs from swinging downward therefrom, thev s ring25 between the legs normally sprea ing the legs to the .locked positionagainst the keepers.

In actual operation, it has been foimd desirable to limit the amount oftraverse movement attainable by the rotation of clamp head 5 onpivotingI pin l2. To this end, a downturned flange 28 is provided on theforward edge of the base of the clamp head in position to' engage thecorners of the traverse bracket 13 as the clamp head and gun are rotatedlaterally, thus to limit the i traverse movement of the gun.

From this description, it willbe readily 4seen that I have provided asimple'and inexpensive biped for machine rifles, which may be detachablyfixed to the lbarrel of a fire arm, and which may be lcompactly foldedagainst the gun or rapidly unfolded for speedy use when desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is 1.` In a rest for fire arms, a clampengageable with a gun barrel, a transversely hinged bracket carried bythe clamp, a pair of normally diverging legs pivoted to said bracket,and a locking device carried by the clamp in position to engage the legswhen compressed and folded.

2. In a rest fon fire arms, a clamp engageable with a gun barrel, atransversely inged bracket carried by the clamp, a pair of legs pivotedte said bracket, spring means carried by the legs and bracket tonormally spread the legs laterally, and a locking device carried by theclamp in position to engage the legs when compressed and folded.

3. In a restl for fire arms, a clamp engageable with a gun barrel, aninverted U- shaped traverse bracket vertically pivoted to said clamp, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the traverse bracket, a pair ofnormally diverging legs longitudinally pivoted to the hinged bracket,and a locking device carried by the clamp in position to engage the legswhen compressed and folded.

4. In a rest for re arms, a clamp engageable with a gun barrel, aninverted U- shaped traverse bracket vertically pivoted to said clamp, astop on said clamp positioned to limit the rotation of the traversebracket, a transversely hinged bracket carried by the traverse bracket,a pair of normally diverging legs pivoted to the hinged bracket, and alocking device carried by the clamp in position to engage the legs whencompressed and folded.

5. In a rest for tire arms, a clamp engageable with the gun barrel, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the clamp, spring means betweenthe clamp and bracket normally actuating the bracket to the unfoldedposition, a pair of normally diverging legs pivoted to said bracket, andalocking olevice carried by the clamp in position to engage the .legswhen compressed and folded.

6. In a rest for lire arms, a clamp engageable with the gun barrel, aninverted U- shaped traverse bracket vertically pivoted to said clamp, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the traverse bracket, springmeans between the traverse bracket and the hinged bracket normallyactuating 'the bracket to the unfolded position, a pair of normallydiverging legs pivoted to said hinged bracket and a locking devicecarried by the clamp for engaging the legs when compressed and folded.

7. In a rest for lire arms a clamp engageable With the gun barrel, aninverted U- shaped traverse bracket vertically pivoted to said clamp, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the traverse bracket, springmeans between the traverse bracket and the hinged bracket normallyactuating the hinged` bracket to the unfolded position, stops on saidtraverse bracket in position to limit the travel of the hinged bracketabout its hinge pin, a pair of normally diverging legs pivoted to saidhinged bracket, and a locking device carried by the clamp in position toengage the legs when compressed and folded.

8. In a rest for fire arms, a clamp engageable with the' gun barrel, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the clamp, a pair of legs pivotedto said bracket, spring means carried by the legs and bracket inposition to normally spread the legs laterally, stops on said bracketlimiting the divergence of said legs, and a locking device carried bythe clamp for engaging the legs when compressed and folded.

JOI-IN BUTLER.

Copies ot this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of lPatents,

` Washington, D. C.

